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Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! Light Novel #10
Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! (Light Novel) Vol. 10
PIRATE QUEENWith the Seed of the Sacred Tree and Princess Tinia aboard, Hiro and crew join the battle against Red Flag, the pirate gang that attacked the elves' home planet. Just as the battle is looking hopeless, the Krishna activates a mysterious new barrier--one that seems to have something to do with the Sacred Tree. Meanwhile, Hiro snags the interest of Mary, a buxom mercenary with shady ties. How is Hiro going to shake this gorgeous new troublemaker?
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 10, 2023
56 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 12, 2024
And that's the problem with being the best in the business as well as a magnet for trouble: It's when everything appears to be going perfectly fine that everything absolutely and irrevocably goes horribly wrong.
REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v10 attempts to reassure readers there is indeed balance in this universe, and that Captain Hiro and the crew of the Krishna aren't above getting on the bad side of folks with the skill, strategy, and patience to bite back. In the current volume, the team's awkward jaunt through the Leafil System wraps up but not without a handful of quiet missions from everyone's favorite disaster lieutenant colonel. What would a pseudo-vacation be without a hologram-call from an irate Serena Holz?
But it's not Lieutenant Colonel Holz that has Captain Hiro on his toes this time around, it's the presumed object of Holz' ambition: the leader of an expansive (and well-equipped) pirate crew whose ties to regional nobility and military officials go deep. Interestingly, for half of the book, neither Holz nor Hiro really know who their enemy is. Largely, the Imperial Fleet is doing its pirate-hunting thing and dragging the Krishna and Black Lotus along for the ride. Red Flag? That pirate gang? It's large, but it'll be crushed soon enough. Right?
One can never be too sure things will go as planned. But before Hiro can kiss this string of missions goodbye, he has to settle his various diplomatic obligations with Tinia, the elf, and her family, the Grald Clan. The pirate-hunting operation makes things safer for the residents of the Leafil System, at least on the surface, but Hiro still has a few questions. And for good reason, too.
REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v10 takes the step of actively annoying the protagonist with paranoia and uncertainty for a great deal of the book. Hiro is no longer the cool mercenary without any real cares and with nothing to lose. He's a known entity in this universe, and he's grown increasingly aware of the fault lines that guide his fate.
The Imperial Fleet's mission is missing a few puzzle pieces. Why is the military keeping secrets? The inclusion of multiple, regional star systems under lockdown is suspicious. Who let the Red Flag group get so large? Think on the sudden appearance of star ships manufactured in the Birginia Star System Alliance (ally to the enemy Belbellum Federation). How did a ship manufactured two intergalactic empires away make it here?
The cracking open of unanswerable questions is good. It helps push the novel series in new and unexplored directions. The challenge, with the current volume, is that by constantly asking questions that readers know won't be answered right away, one is left to cull hundreds of pages of presumptions and escalations without resolution. The most strident example emerges halfway through the book, with the introduction of Captain Mary of the Rainbow; the woman leads the Crimson Lance gang, and she, too, has a few pan-universe experiences in common with the protagonist. Captain Mary is Captain Hiro's erstwhile rival; however, since their showdown takes place in the final chapter, readers have to wade through roughly 90 pages between Mary's introduction and her reappearance to make sense of this new dynamic. It's a start, one supposes. As such, this volume, altogether, is an adventure that drags a little.
Elsewhere, readers of REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v10 get another taste of the awkward business relationship between Serena Holz and Hiro, readers track Hiro's latest voyage into the realm of the sci-fi harem (e.g., Tina and Wiska), and while Tinia pledges to stay on her home planet of Theta, it's clear she harbors strong feelings for the dark-haired mercenary who lacks manners. Funnily enough, Hiro accidentally talks himself into a wild scenario in which he wouldn't mind bringing Serena on board (she would, naturally, have to be chased out of both the military and the aristocracy). Whether the lieutenant colonel is bold (or stupid) enough to make good on that "proposal" is yet to be seen.
REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v10 attempts to reassure readers there is indeed balance in this universe, and that Captain Hiro and the crew of the Krishna aren't above getting on the bad side of folks with the skill, strategy, and patience to bite back. In the current volume, the team's awkward jaunt through the Leafil System wraps up but not without a handful of quiet missions from everyone's favorite disaster lieutenant colonel. What would a pseudo-vacation be without a hologram-call from an irate Serena Holz?
But it's not Lieutenant Colonel Holz that has Captain Hiro on his toes this time around, it's the presumed object of Holz' ambition: the leader of an expansive (and well-equipped) pirate crew whose ties to regional nobility and military officials go deep. Interestingly, for half of the book, neither Holz nor Hiro really know who their enemy is. Largely, the Imperial Fleet is doing its pirate-hunting thing and dragging the Krishna and Black Lotus along for the ride. Red Flag? That pirate gang? It's large, but it'll be crushed soon enough. Right?
One can never be too sure things will go as planned. But before Hiro can kiss this string of missions goodbye, he has to settle his various diplomatic obligations with Tinia, the elf, and her family, the Grald Clan. The pirate-hunting operation makes things safer for the residents of the Leafil System, at least on the surface, but Hiro still has a few questions. And for good reason, too.
REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v10 takes the step of actively annoying the protagonist with paranoia and uncertainty for a great deal of the book. Hiro is no longer the cool mercenary without any real cares and with nothing to lose. He's a known entity in this universe, and he's grown increasingly aware of the fault lines that guide his fate.
The Imperial Fleet's mission is missing a few puzzle pieces. Why is the military keeping secrets? The inclusion of multiple, regional star systems under lockdown is suspicious. Who let the Red Flag group get so large? Think on the sudden appearance of star ships manufactured in the Birginia Star System Alliance (ally to the enemy Belbellum Federation). How did a ship manufactured two intergalactic empires away make it here?
The cracking open of unanswerable questions is good. It helps push the novel series in new and unexplored directions. The challenge, with the current volume, is that by constantly asking questions that readers know won't be answered right away, one is left to cull hundreds of pages of presumptions and escalations without resolution. The most strident example emerges halfway through the book, with the introduction of Captain Mary of the Rainbow; the woman leads the Crimson Lance gang, and she, too, has a few pan-universe experiences in common with the protagonist. Captain Mary is Captain Hiro's erstwhile rival; however, since their showdown takes place in the final chapter, readers have to wade through roughly 90 pages between Mary's introduction and her reappearance to make sense of this new dynamic. It's a start, one supposes. As such, this volume, altogether, is an adventure that drags a little.
Elsewhere, readers of REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v10 get another taste of the awkward business relationship between Serena Holz and Hiro, readers track Hiro's latest voyage into the realm of the sci-fi harem (e.g., Tina and Wiska), and while Tinia pledges to stay on her home planet of Theta, it's clear she harbors strong feelings for the dark-haired mercenary who lacks manners. Funnily enough, Hiro accidentally talks himself into a wild scenario in which he wouldn't mind bringing Serena on board (she would, naturally, have to be chased out of both the military and the aristocracy). Whether the lieutenant colonel is bold (or stupid) enough to make good on that "proposal" is yet to be seen.
October 16, 2024
Disappointing
2.2 stars
Slight spoilers but the extra "main villain similar to the hero" trope was tacked on in the last half of an already short, oddly paced book.
Hiro barely survived an ambush he already expected through luck/plot armour and ***pulls. And the villain who ambushed him acts like she was there to help him all along and they cops can't actually piece it together? He can't provide logs of the encounter and her odd sadistic communications while she shot at him?
He's basically a noble with ties to other powerful nobles and the freaking emporer himself and yet he can't report things to them or lean on them at all? It feels like the writing style regressed to something for even younger audiences. It feels like the story is getting too contrived now and it keeps piling up.
Also Hiro's personality is a little grating now and it feels like he's shown 0 growth. But that's the least of the things that pile up to make the story abrasive now.
2.2 stars
Slight spoilers but the extra "main villain similar to the hero" trope was tacked on in the last half of an already short, oddly paced book.
Hiro barely survived an ambush he already expected through luck/plot armour and ***pulls. And the villain who ambushed him acts like she was there to help him all along and they cops can't actually piece it together? He can't provide logs of the encounter and her odd sadistic communications while she shot at him?
He's basically a noble with ties to other powerful nobles and the freaking emporer himself and yet he can't report things to them or lean on them at all? It feels like the writing style regressed to something for even younger audiences. It feels like the story is getting too contrived now and it keeps piling up.
Also Hiro's personality is a little grating now and it feels like he's shown 0 growth. But that's the least of the things that pile up to make the story abrasive now.
September 16, 2024
The story almost immediately jumps into the action, continuing where volume 9 ended: dealing with the pirates that have been raiding the elf planet. Of course, this being Hiro, things don't stay straightforward. People show up who might be involved with the pirates, looking for vengeance.
Much like previous volumes, decent world building (if a rather soft SF setting), entertaining characters with often enjoyable banter and quick action. The characters are not very well developed, there is the harem and some of the banter felt out of place (e.g. Hiro's enmity to the seed and scepticism to his own power felt off), but that is nothing new. The pacing was also a bit odd. Quick action at the start, than a slow build up to a threat, which was then somewhat resolved in the last few pages, a bit disappointing in all honesty.
Still, an entertaining quick read that fit my expectations.
Much like previous volumes, decent world building (if a rather soft SF setting), entertaining characters with often enjoyable banter and quick action. The characters are not very well developed, there is the harem and some of the banter felt out of place (e.g. Hiro's enmity to the seed and scepticism to his own power felt off), but that is nothing new. The pacing was also a bit odd. Quick action at the start, than a slow build up to a threat, which was then somewhat resolved in the last few pages, a bit disappointing in all honesty.
Still, an entertaining quick read that fit my expectations.
September 11, 2024
Slightly less fun than before
The idea of another person like Hiro, is definitely fascinating, but it transforms the story into a pro-evil, non-conclusive, arch-enemy type story. Overall, I think the idea stinks. If the other person (avoiding spoilers) wasn't a psychopath closely matching Hiro in skill, they'd be much more fun. As it is at this point, it looks like the story is stalling and headed nowhere. The only conclusion that would be entertaining is Hiro killing the other person, sooner or later. I have all the audiobooks, but I don't plan to buy another audiobook until I can confirm that outcome, or else the story is just going to be too boring and disappointing.
The idea of another person like Hiro, is definitely fascinating, but it transforms the story into a pro-evil, non-conclusive, arch-enemy type story. Overall, I think the idea stinks. If the other person (avoiding spoilers) wasn't a psychopath closely matching Hiro in skill, they'd be much more fun. As it is at this point, it looks like the story is stalling and headed nowhere. The only conclusion that would be entertaining is Hiro killing the other person, sooner or later. I have all the audiobooks, but I don't plan to buy another audiobook until I can confirm that outcome, or else the story is just going to be too boring and disappointing.
December 3, 2024
One of my guilty pleasures🤗
Captain Hiro and his crew are back fighting pirates and dodging a certain red haired fem fatale who seems to be a match for our dimension hopping hero. Can't wait for the next installment, Sit down, strap in and hold on, its payback time!
Captain Hiro and his crew are back fighting pirates and dodging a certain red haired fem fatale who seems to be a match for our dimension hopping hero. Can't wait for the next installment, Sit down, strap in and hold on, its payback time!
September 5, 2024
Fantastic!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
September 9, 2024
Part 2 of elf system arc, and it was good. The Tinia and seed story feels unfinished, but the new antagonist introduced this volume seems interesting. Looking forward to next volume.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews